Case-control, exploratory study of cerebrospinal fluid chemokines/cytokines and lymphocyte subsets in childhood Tourette syndrome with positive streptococcal markers.

A longstanding question is whether neuroinflammation is present in children symptomatic for Tourette syndrome (TS) with positive streptococcal serology and throat cultures. The objective was to directly test for it using modern hypothesis-driven approaches. Profiling studies for 14 immune cell types (flow cytometry), 7 chemokines/cytokines (ELISA), oligoclonal bands, and other immunoglobulins were performed in this IRB-approved study of 5 children with TS and streptococcal markers compared to data from 26 non-inflammatory pediatric neurological controls. Subjects were well-characterized clinically and with standardized scales for tics and obsessions/compulsions. Three subjects with TS (60%) had positive throat cultures for Group A beta-hemolytic strep, five had elevated anti-deoxyribonuclease-B titers (mean=444), and 4 (80%) had elevated anti-streptolysin O titers (981). There were no significant differences between groups in the frequency of CSF B and T cell subsets or NK cells; the proportion of intracellularly-stained T helper type 1 (IFN-γ) or type 2 (IL-4) cells; the concentrations of B cell chemoattractants CXCL13, CXCL10; the B cell proliferation/survival cytokines BAFF and APRIL, or other chemokines (CCL19, CCL21, CCL22). None of the patients had positive CSF oligoclonal bands or an abnormal IgG index/synthesis rate. Parallel blood studies were negative. This novel study found no group CSF lymphocyte phenotypic abnormalities or elevated inflammatory mediators in childhood TS despite positive serology and throat cultures for Group A beta-hemolytic streptococci. It demonstrates feasibility of the methodology, and should serve as the basis for a larger study of putative streptococcal-associated neuroimmunological disorders.

Effect of low-dose cyclophosphamide, ACTH, and IVIG combination immunotherapy on neuroinflammation in pediatric-onset OMS: A retrospective pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: Flow cytometric cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lymphocyte subset analysis has improved the diagnosis of neuroinflammation and identified multiple markers of inflammation in opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS). The aim of this exploratory, retrospective study was to analyze the effect of immunotherapy on these markers to determine which agents are disease modifying. METHODS: Cross-sectional immunological observations were made in an IRB-approved case-control study, and patients were treated empirically. Ten different CSF lymphocyte subpopulations from 18 children with persistent OMS had been measured by flow cytometry before and after clinical treatment with cyclophosphamide/ACTH/IVIG combination (n = 7) or ACTH/IVIG alone (n = 11). Clinical severity of OMS was scored from videotapes by a blinded observer using the OMS Evaluation Scale. RESULTS: Only cyclophosphamide combination therapy (mean dose 26 ± 3 mg/kg or 922 ± 176 mg/m2 x 6 cycles) significantly decreased the percentage of CSF B cells. The mean reduction was 65%, with CSF B cell frequency normalized at 7-8 months in 70%. Other abnormalities of the CSF immunophenotype, such as the low CD4/CD8 T cell ratio, persisted, and there were no therapeutic changes in T cell activation/maturation markers. Effects on relative and absolute size of PBMC subsets were similar. Clinical improvement was 70% and 55% in respective treatment groups. The relapse rates of the two groups did not significantly differ. DISCUSSION: The main effect of cyclophosphamide combination therapy on neuroinflammation in OMS was moderate reduction in CSF B cell expansion. Though exploratory, it may provide a steroid sparer option in partially-responsive OMS.

Cerebrospinal fluid ACTH and cortisol in opsoclonus-myoclonus: effect of therapy.

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome is one of a few corticotropin (ACTH)-responsive central nervous system disorders of childhood. We measured cerebrospinal fluid ACTH and cortisol in 69 children with opsoclonus-myoclonus and 25 age- and sex-matched control subjects to determine endogenous levels and look for hypothesized differential hormonal effects of ACTH and corticosteroid treatment. Cerebrospinal fluid cortisol was 10-fold higher with ACTH treatment (n = 26), but was unchanged with oral steroid treatment (n = 18) or no treatment (n = 25). It was significantly higher in children receiving daily high-dose ACTH than alternate day ACTH. In ACTH-treated children, cerebrospinal fluid and serum cortisol were highly correlated (r = 0.96, P = 0.0001), with a mean ratio of cerebrospinal fluid to serum cortisol of approximately 1:10. Cerebrospinal fluid ACTH concentration did not differ significantly between untreated opsoclonus-myoclonus and control subjects but was lower with ACTH (-29%) or steroid treatment (-36%), suggesting feedback inhibition of ACTH release. These data delineate differences in the central effects of ACTH and corticosteroid therapy, as well as between high and low ACTH doses, and support the integrity of the brain-adrenal axis in pediatric opsoclonus-myoclonus.

Evidence of cellular immune activation in children with opsoclonus-myoclonus: cerebrospinal fluid neopterin.

To evaluate cellular immune activation in opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome, we measured the inflammatory marker neopterin in the cerebrospinal fluid of 16 children with opsoclonus-myoclonus and neuroblastoma, 24 children with opsoclonus-myoclonus but no tumor, and 19 age-matched controls. The mean concentration in opsoclonus-myoclonus was 2.3-fold higher than in controls (P = .008). Neopterin was greatly elevated in four of the most neurologically severe cases, up to 8.3-fold above the highest control level. Thirteen of the 40 children with opsoclonus-myoclonus but no controls had a neopterin concentration >2 SD above the control mean (P = .005). In this high neopterin subgroup, neurologic severity was significantly greater and the duration of neurologic symptoms was less. In 16 children re-examined on immunotherapy, including adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) combination therapy, treatment was associated with a significant reduction in both neopterin and neurologic severity. Neopterin did not differ significantly between the tumor and non-tumor opsoclonus-myoclonus etiologies. No abnormalities of tetrahydrobiopterin were found. Although cerebrospinal fluid neopterin lacked the sensitivity to be a biomarker of disease activity in opsoclonus-myoclonus, elevated concentrations do support a role for T-cell activation and cell-mediated immunity in its pathophysiology.

Neuroepidemiologic trends in 105 US cases of pediatric opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome.

Opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS) is a rare, autoimmune neurological disorder that is poorly recognized and undertreated. Neuroblastoma is found in one half of the cases. Because of the high incidence of spontaneous regression of neuroblastoma, it is unknown whether not finding a tumor means there was none. To define demographic trends and the standard of care in the first large series of OMS, 105 children were recruited over a 13-year period in a retrospective questionnaire survey. Children with and without a tumor differed little in viral-like prodrome and neurological symptoms. Earliest neurological symptoms were staggering and falling, leading to a misdiagnosis of acute cerebellitis. Later symptoms included body jerks, drooling, refusal to walk or sit, speech problems, decreased muscle tone, opsoclonus, and inability to sleep. Tumor resection alone did not provide adequate therapy for most. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), prednisone, and intravenous immunoglobulin were used with equal frequency, but ACTH was associated with the best early response. More than one half of the children had relapses. Residual behavioral, language, and cognitive problems occurred in the majority. The delay in diagnosis (11 weeks) and initiation of treatment (17 weeks) is unacceptably long.

CSF B-cell expansion in opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome: a biomarker of disease activity.

Lack of a biomarker of disease activity has hindered the therapy of childhood opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS), which is purported to be mediated humorally. To determine if the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) B lymphocyte, which may traffic into the central nervous system (CNS) to produce antibody locally, is one such biomarker, B lymphocytes were immunophenotyped in the CSF and blood of 56 children with OMS and 26 pediatric controls by dual-laser flow cytometry. Neurological severity was rated blindly from videotapes using a validated 12-item motor evaluation scale. Children with OMS manifested a 4- to 7-fold higher percentage of total B-cells in CSF (P < 0.0001), including CD5(+) (P = 0.001) and CD5(-) (P = 0.0004) B-cell subsets, compared with controls, in whom the percentages were negligible and unchanging with age. CSF expansion of both B-cell subsets increased with disease severity and decreased with disease duration (P

Immunophenotype of blood lymphocytes in neuroblastoma-associated opsoclonus-myoclonus.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the distribution of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) is altered in paraneoplastic opsoclonus-myoclonus (POM). METHODS: PBMCs from 17 children with POM, 17 children with OM but no tumor, and 17 controls were immunophenotyped using a comprehensive panel of surface markers by dual-laser flow cytometry. All groups were matched for age and gender; POM and OM patients were matched for treatment. RESULTS: In the POM patients, the CD4+ T-cell subset was smaller in both relative size (-18%, P = 0.02) and absolute size (-41%, P = 0.03) compared with controls. The CD4/CD8 ratio also was less (-29% to -44%) and was related to POM duration (P = 0.03). The absolute but not relative size of the gammadelta T-cell subset was reduced (-44%, P = 0.02). There were no significant abnormalities of CD19+ B-cells, CD3- or CD3+ NK cells, HLA-DR+ or CD25+ T-cells, or CD45RA+ or CD45RO+ T-cells. Prior tumor chemotherapy, which was associated with a higher percentage but not number of CD8+ T-cells, did not restore the CD4+ T-cell subset. When the POM and OM groups, which were not significantly different, were combined, chemotherapy decreased both the relative and absolute size of the CD19+ B-cell pool and had small effects on other lymphocyte subsets. CONCLUSIONS: POM is characterized by T-cell abnormalities of PBMCs, the most robust of which is reduction of the CD4+ T-cell subset and the CD4/CD8 ratio. Although this reduction was found previously in cerebrospinal fluid in POM patients, PBMC subsets did not otherwise reflect cerebrospinal fluid abnormalities. Longitudinal studies will be necessary to determine whether PBMC abnormalities could serve as treatment markers.